James it



(No Model.) v

J. H. LEWIS.

l Y POTATO BIGGER.

No. 395,571. Patented Jan.- l, 1889.`

I; lilium llwirnn @rares Partnr trice.

JAMES Il. LEVIS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF l`0 CHARLES G. Il'AhilPTON, OF SAME PLACE.

POTATOSDIGGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters )Patent No. 395,571, dated January 1, 1889.

Application filed May Il, 1888. Serial No. 273,567. (No model.)

To all whom, if; 7210/3/ concern.:

Be it known. that l, JAMES Il. Lewis, a citi- '/.en of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of lVayne and State of Michigan, have inv entcd certain new and useful Improvements in Potato-Diggers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawin This invention relates to certain new and 4useful improvements in potato-diggers, and

the invention is designed to form an improve ment on a former application for Letters Patcnt filed hlarch (l, 1888, Serial No. 266,296.

Myprcsent invention consists, especially, in the improved construction and operation of the carrier, by means of which the potatohills, after being taken np by the plow, are delivered to the shakinggrates, all as more fully hereinafter described..

In the drawings which accolnlmny this specification, Figure l is a top plan of a potatodigger to which my improvement is applied, with some of the parts removed to show the construction and operation of the carrier. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof on line c in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of the parts composing Jthe carrier.

A is the axle, supported by the groundwheels B, both of which are drive-wheels. 'C is the draft-pole centrally secured between the hounds I), which. at their rear ends are secured to the axle and support the operating parts of the plow. E is the plow-beam, the forward end of which is adjustably secured to the under side of the drafl;-pole, while the rear end is bifurcated and carries between the outwardly and downwardly projecting rear ends the plate or shoe I, upon which a suitable plow, J, is secured. Side plows, K, are secured to the standards H by means of vertical standards L. L are shaking-grams, the cross-head L of which is pivotallysecured to the plate I. All these parts are of known construction and embody no part of my present invention, and are merely shown for the sake of illustrating the saine in connection with my present invention.

M is a double-throw cra1ik-sl1al1`t transversely secured in suitable bearings, a, on the rear ends of the hounds. Said crank-shaft lll receives motion by means oi' a sprocket-andchain connection orin any other suitable manner from the ground-wheels.

AN N are forwardly-inelined carrier-lakes placed longitudinally and centrally above the shovel-plow. They are provided at their rear ends with suitable journal-boxes, h, mounted upon the crank-shaft, and at their forward ends they are supported from the front ends of the hounds by means of the stationary hangers O and links P. The hangers O are provided with vertical adj usting-holes for adj ustably connecting the link by means of the bolt c, and the forward end of the rake has a hinge secured to its upwardly and forwardly projecting arm R, to which the lower end of the link P is pivotally secured by means of the pin f. The head g of the rake is in the form of a flat blade, and Vis provided on its under side with rake-teeth 71., arranged in rows transversely to the rake head, and the lower end of the hinged arm R is also provided with a series of rake-teeth, if, projecting below the rake-head.

In practice, the parts being arranged as shown and described, the motion conveyed to the carrier will impart to each rake a four motion raking action-that is, to and fro in the longitudinal direction of the plow, up and down in a vertical plane, and tilting to clear itself when passing from and to the work. At the same time the rakes move in opposite direction to each other, and each rake is free to adj ust itself at its forward end up or down, so as to ride freely over the ground.. Thus the rakes are alternately brought down upon the hills dug up by the plow, which thereby are thoroughly broken up and carried with an even feed to the rear onto the gratos in the best condition for effecting a clean separation.

I prefer to give the rakes a rapid movement by properly proportioning the parts so as to gain the utmost advantage from the breaking up of the ground by the quiekmovement. A carrier of this construction is less liable to be interfered with by potato-vines and weeds than by endless carriers; and it will be seen, further, that the parts described, which connect the forward ends of the rakes with the frame, form compensating hangers, which permit a free up-and-down vertically self-ad j ustnient for the rakes, whereby the same may freely ride over the top of the ground. The peculiar V shape of the rake-teeth, combined with the tilting motion of the rake, clears the teeth readily from the vines and ground. The width of the two rakes combined is intended to cover the hills as raised :from the shovelplow. My carrier is intended to be applied to that class of potato-diggers wherein the digging is done by means of shovel-plows, in the practical use of which it has been found that the hills do not readily pass from. the plow to the grates, but often accumulate on the plow, and thereby arrest the digging or produce otherwise unsatisfactory work.

That I claim as my invention isl. The combination, with'the shovel-plow ot' a potato-digger, of a carrier-rake adjusted above that plow and actuated by mechanism to impart thereto a rake motion, said mechanism consisting of a crank or cranks carrying the rear end of the rake and provided with drive-coimection 'f rom the gro und-wheels, and of self-adjusting compensating hangers for suspending' the front end of said rake, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the shovelplow oli' a potato-digger, of two inclined reciprocating carrier-rakes mounted above said shovel-plow side by side, of self-adjusting compensating hangers suspending the front end oi' the rakcs independently oi' each other, and a doublethrow crank supporting' the rear end of the rakes and imparting motion in opposite direction to such rakes, substantially as described.

3. rlhe combination, with the forwardly-inclined rakes i' N of the double-throw crank shaft M, upon which the rear end et' such rakes are mounted, of the arms R, hinged to the front ends oi' the rakes, the hangers O, secured to the irame, and the links P, pivotally connecting said hangers with the arms R, sub` stantialiy as described.

'-LL. The combination, in a carrier-rake for potato-diggers, substantially as described, oi' the V-shapcd rake-teeth 71 arranged in rows, and a rake-head, g, to which the tecth are secured, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the rake-head g, the rake-teeth 71, secured thereto in rows, andthe arm R, hinged to the forward end of the rakehead, and the rake-teeth 11,', formed on the lower side of said arm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof l a'fiix my signature, in presence o l1' two witnesses, this 5th d ay of M ay, 1888.

JAMES H. LEWIS.

lVitnesses:

J oHN scuUimN, l). M. HULBERT. 

